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This Popular Thread Has People Sharing 15 ‘Life Pro Tips’ You Should Probably Avoid
Article created by: Saulė Tolstych
Did you know that according to Ipsos, a multinational market research and consulting firm, on average across 30 countries, two in three adults (67%) consider themselves “happy”?
A pretty decent number, isn't it?
Well, life is not always blissful. It loves to kick you in your bottom, and as a result, you often find yourself facing some serious obstacles and hardships.
Whether it’s work-related stress, responsibilities that you find overwhelming, situations that you have little to no control over, or perhaps you’re simply going through a period of uncertainty – most of the time, all you want to do is talk to someone who’ll be able to knock some sense back into you by offering you a piece of wise advice.
But here’s the catch, most of the advice is complete and utter garbage.
“What’s a common ‘life pro tip' that is actually bad advice?” – this web user took to one of Reddit’s most philosophical and enlightening communities, asking its members to offer their serious takes on the world’s poorest life advice. The thread managed to garner nearly 24K upvotes as well as 6.3K comments containing some pretty eye-opening statements.
More info: Reddit
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#1
“You can do anything that you put your mind too.” No...you can’t. Not everyone is good at everything , and the sooner you make peace with your own limitations, the more successful you’ll become.
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#2
“If you can’t love yourself you can’t love someone else”
Makes everyone with any mental illness feel unlovable and hopeless
#3
“Never give up.” Sometimes you should give up. Sometimes you’ll try your best and it still won’t work out.
#4
"Always listen to your elders" and "Old people are smarter / wiser"
I don't care who you are, what relationship I have with you, or expecially how old you are. Anyone can be a dumbass.
#6
"Looks don't matter."
No matter how confident you are with yourself it is inevitable that people will judge you based on your appearance.
#7
“If a boy is mean to you, it means he likes you”
No, it means he’s likely a bully and leads women to staying in abusive relationships because ‘he Loves me”
#8
"You should do some math before accepting a raise, because it might put you in the next tax bracket and you actually take home less money."
THAT'S NOT HOW TAX BRACKETS WORK.
Let's say the first tax bracket is $10,000 at 10%. That means you fork over $1,000 to Uncle Sam and take home $9,000.
For the sake of simplicity, let's assume the next tax bracket is 20%. You are offered a raise of $500, making your total income $10,500.
This does not mean *the entire $10,500* is taxed at that 20% rate!
That first $10,000 is taxed at 10%...then the remaining $500 in the next tax bracket is taxed at 20% (which is $100).
Out of that $10,500, you fork over $1100, and take home $9,400. You take home $400 more!
**Never reject a raise *just* because it puts you in the next tax bracket. There is no such thing as taking home less money because you are "in" a higher tax bracket.**
Edit: this is *only* about tax brackets. There are still plenty of good reasons to reject a raise - i.e. benefits cliffs, pay not matching new workload, etc. I'm just here to say that "losing money because you get taxed more" *is not one of them*, because that doesn't exist/that's not how the tax brackets work.
Edit 2: this is also specific to the U.S. Not commenting on other countries' tax structures.
#9
“Practice makes perfect.”
No it doesn’t. Practice makes permanent. If you continuously repeat shoddy work, you’ll just become very efficient at making that shoddy work, and it’ll be hard for you to ever improve.
Practice along with introspection, analysis, and feedback makes perfect.
#10
I kind of have "no excuses" drilled into me but...sometimes there are legit reasons why you can't do something.
Also, not everything has a Hollywood ending. Sometimes you can't do something, sometimes you fail and have to give up. Being realistic about that isn't a bad thing.
#11
"If you do what you love, you will never work a day in your life."
Many people use this advice thinking they'll be able to easily coast through life and are shocked when they have to face the reality of it being an actual job. When you do something that you love as a career rather than as a hobby, it becomes much more serious and has more responsibilities. Sometimes it can even lead to you hating the thing you used to love.
This isn't to discourage anyone who wants to pursue a career in something they enjoy, like a photographer or a chef. If you want to have a career doing something you enjoy, that's great. But you have to go in knowing that it won't be all sunshine and rainbows 100% of the time. There will be difficulties from time to time and you won't have the same amount of freedom that you used to have when it was just a hobby. As long as you go in knowing that and are willing to adapt and work hard, you'll be fine.
#12
"Getting a 4-year degree is essential for a successful career"
Acquiring marketable skills in a field you enjoy is what matters, not spending X amount of time in college. Many 4-year degrees leave you with very few skills that are needed in the job market, while many trade school programs only take a few months and put you on the track to a high paying job.
#13
I think the pursuit for perfection, especially in the age of social media. Aiming for an ideal 8 hours of sleep, all fresh veg/fruit/wholegrain diet, perfect study and work habits with Instagram shots of colour coded notes, expensive skin care routine, 1.5L of water a day, getting up at 5 AM for a run, abstaining from all vices.
It's good to strive to be the best version of yourself, but the unnecessary pressure to excel at all these things seem detrimental more than anything else. I put a lot of time/effort into work and am good at my job, I have great physical and mental health. If I want to eat doughnuts with vodka shots at 11 PM, or stay up watching Bob's Burgers until 2 AM, or skip my run and head to work, I should be able to do that sometimes. Wellness is not a competition, and an elastic band stretched far enough will snap.
#14
"They're family! Let it go!"
My dad (who is a doctor) watched as I got a viral infection that spread to my brain and I went blind and deaf. He called my mom and said I'd be dead by the time he got home from work the next day. My sister (who hasn't spoken to him since middle school) had to break into his house, find me, call 911. Dad was mad that she broke in, said nothing about me.
#15
"Tip your head back to stop a nosebleed" Don't do that. Tip your head slightly forward with a kerchief pressed under your nose and allow the blood to clot.
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